In the Heart of the Mountain
by FabashulousEmpress
Summary: No one is only evil, not everything is black and white and nothing is as it seems. This is the story of a genius doctor, a medical worker in detoxification, 48 delinquents from a space station that isn't supposed to exist, and a quest for the truth about the mountain which is at once their prison and their home. OC Anne Lewis.


I'm a surgeon. Well, I'm a pediatrician as well. And a psychologist. And a dentist. But I specialize in surgery. When there are only 300 people where you live, you tend to multitask a bit. So as I was saying, I'm a doctor. Some might say a pretty good one. I got pulled out of school two years before I was supposed to graduate because, well, there wasn't anything left to teach me. They put me into medical training almost straight away, after I told them that that was the only thing I wanted to do and yes, I'm sure I don't want to work in government. There's a lot to learn when you're studying medicine, but before you learn anything about actual medecine, you learn about conservation of resources. We've had it drilled into our heads since birth. Don't take too much food, don't drink too much water, never ever waste air. Someone is working very hard and risking their life to bring you these things. Waste as little as possible. But medical supplies were different. We might be able to find some more water, could grow more food or send people out. There was no making more anesthesia, no building another blood filtration device if it broke. When we were out, we were out. So anyway, that was first. Then you listened to lectures, read from textbooks, wrote essays, took tests, got dirty looks from jealous older students. (Or maybe that last part was just me.) Once you'd finished the second school kind of thing, you started training under a doctor. I was the best, so I trained with the best. Doctor Lorelei Tsing. She was amazing. Easily the most talented doctor I'd ever met. Calm, cool and collected, even when faced with radiation burns, and exercising wonderful bedside manner the whole time. She was the one who chose which Outsiders would be harvested, the one who administered and oversaw the treatments. She worked closely with President Wallace and his son, making her easily the third most important in Mount Weather.

What I'm trying to say is, she was pretty awesome. And I was her first trainee in ten years. That probably doesn't seem like a lot, but when your history is measured over the course of 97 years, 10 is pretty impressive. She was very, very important and by training under her, I became important. Not "in-charge-of-major-decisions" important. Not even "has-an-opinion-on-major-decisions" important. More like, "knows-what-the-hell-is-going-on-before-everyone-else" important. I knew when we discovered that the 13 space stations were connected and functional, floating above us. I knew when their drop ship landed and when they started getting attacked by the Outsiders. I knew when we sent out the Veil while they were out there and I knew when they built the bomb. So yes, I knew when they brought 47 people who were on the drop ship inside our walls. There was nothing strange about knowing. What was strange was the way they told me. You see usually, Dr. Tsing would send a messenger with the information, I'd nod, say "You are dismissed," and proceed with my work. This time, however, as I was doing a routine check up this girl my age, Maya, Dr. Tsing came in and requested we both come with her. She pulled us down two levels and through a veritable maze of tunnels before stopping in the dam. Then she turned around.

"You're aware of the 100 citizens of the space stations who recently came down in the drop ship, correct?" she asked. I nodded and prepared to explain to Maya, only to see she was nodding as well. Huh.

The doctor glanced around one more time, than leaned in close. "They're here," she said. I looked up in shock. "What?"

She sighed impatiently. "They're here. In quarantine."

Maya looked a little bit terrified but spoke up anyway. "Ma'am, I don't mean any disrespect but why are you telling me this." I felt a little surge of pride knowing that she understood why _I_ was being told this, than suppressed it in order to hear the doctor's answer.

"Because I need you to decontaminate them," said Dr. Tsing. Then she looked at me. "But I need you to examine them first."

I was about to protest, then saw the look on her face and stopped speaking before I started. "When should we go, ma'am," I said respectfully.

She grinned down at me, speaking as my friend and mentor, instead of my superior. "Suit up. We'll need you in 10."

I gave a little salute and smiled back. "Yes ma'am"


End file.
